DeFi Narratives

Elton Shehdula is head of Research at Allium, an enterprise blockchain data platform providing institutional-grade data infrastructure and analytics for Web3 ecosystems, financial institutions, and DeFi protocols. In this discussion, Shehdula explores the evolving onchain landscape of Real-World Assets (RWAs), key insights from Allium’s data methodology, and the market dynamics shaping the future of decentralized finance.

Andrew Nalichaev is a systems-level blockchain expert and the CEO of Haia Finance, where he is building non-custodial AI finance and a control plane for programmable money. Haia serves as the primary commercial product and roadmap driver, backed technically by his role as CTO of Haust Network, a custom zkEVM Layer-2 designed for native yield and unified liquidity that powers the infrastructure underneath. A frequent global conference speaker and prolific writer on agentic systems, tokenization, and DeFi market structure, Andrew brings deep, buildable technical insight to the evolving intersection of AI and decentralized finance. He writes on agentic systems, tokenization, and DeFi market structure at andrewnalichaev.com

Alexandra is the Founder and CEO of ARRO Communications, a leading financial marketing and public relations agency based in Miami, Florida. Established in 2013, ARRO Communications focuses primarily on asset managers, exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuers, mutual funds, hedge funds, wealth managers, and fintech firms. Previously, Alexandra worked as VP of Marketing at Global X Funds, an NYC-based ETF issuer. She began her career in financial press while at Dukas Public Relations, where she managed various media campaigns for asset management clients. She’s a regular guest speaker at various finance and ETF events, talking about industry trends and developments in financial marketing. Alexandra graduated with a B.A. in International Relations from Tufts University and is fluent in English, French, and Spanish.

Karamvir Gosal is the Founder and CEO of The Risk Protocol, a New York-based company pioneering a new DeFi primitive: risk tokenization. By wrapping complex synthetic derivatives into onchain, composable SMART Tokens, the protocol delivers institutional-grade leverage and downside protection. Karamvir brings over 25 years of senior Wall Street banking experience to the company.

Sergio Santoianni, Chief Investment Officer at Krown Network. Following their mainnet launch earlier this year, Krown has been building next-generation, quantum-resistant blockchain infrastructure.